Busch spin triggers little 'Big One' at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch was running inside the top five when he lost control of his car in Turn 2. With the field bearing down on him, the recipe was there for the "Big One."

Instead, it was the "Not Quite The Big One." Seven cars were involved, eliminating contenders like Busch, Robby Gordon, polesitter Steve Park and Mike Wallace. But it wasn't a 20-car melee.

"It wasn't the 'Big One,' though," Gordon said. "There are a lot of cars out there, so it can still produce a good race for the fans."

But it also took out some good cars. Busch's car clearly started it when it kicked sideways across the apron.'

"The 97 spun, and he almost wrecked the lap before," Park said. "I don't know if he had a tire going down or what. But he spun to the bottom and cause that big restrictor-plate crash. ... We had it missed, but the 01 and the 31 got up into us and pinched us between and the wall."

When Busch drifted back up the track, he was hit by Gordon, who was hit by Wallace. Busch told his crew over the radio that a tire was going flat.

"It was fine going into the turn, and it just went flat," Busch said. "I feel bad for all of the guys behind me. I didn't know it was a flat tire. It just went down.

Gordon disputed that.

Hood flies into stands  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The hood from the damaged car of Robby Gordon came off his car and flew into the frontstretch grandstands at Daytona International Speedway late in the Pepsi 400, injuring one fan, according to spectators.  Track and NASCAR officials said immediately after the race they were aware of the hood going into the stands but did not have any other information.  Full Story

"He's saying he got a flat tire, but I think he got a flat tire after he was sliding sideways, to be honest with you," Gordon said. "I think he drove it down on the apron trying to get underneath somebody. That's just my perspective."

Gordon's spotter was pushing Gordon to go low, but Gordon was worried that cutting his car left would upset the balance.

"I should've crossed over on the apron," Gordon said. "I just didn't want to lose it crossing down on to the apron. I thought I could just slow it down. I don't know where Mike Wallace came from. He must not have looked in the smoke. I'm pretty sure it was Mike.

"Mike Wallace, he creamed me from the back in the smoke. Obviously, he forgot where the brake pedal was."

But the smoke blocked his vision, Wallace said.

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"I just got slowed up, but I couldn't get slowed up enough," Wallace said. "When you come through the smoke, cars are turned sideways. You never know who all you hit. I know I hit the 31 pretty hard because he was sideways when I came through the smoke.

"I thought I was through it. It was like, 'Coast, coast, coast and then, pow! I saw an orange car."

Wallace said he didn't have much of a decision to make. The cars are running so close together at 180 that there's barely time to think, let alone make a move. And then when you throw in tire smoke ...

"Even if you get it slowed down to 100 mph, you're still traveling a lot of distance very quickly," Wallace said. "It's very hard to react, especially when you can't see... If we can somehow eliminate smoke, which we're not going to be able to, we could probably miss all the wrecks."

	Kurt Busch spins, causing everyone behind him to slow up. Credit: AP

Drivers have complained about restrictor-plate racing since the plates were introduced in the late 1980s. But Ricky Craven, who was also involved in the crash, said wrecks like this one are simply part of plate racing.

"You subject yourself to it when you start the race," Craven said. "It wouldn't be appropriate for me to blame anybody because it's just the type of racing we do. I'm frustrated because we're sitting here watching the race.

"My disappointment is that that shouldn't happen among the leaders. You expect that toward the back of the back or the middle of the pack where there's disparity between the guys trying to separate themselves. I don't know. Didn't expect it, not on new tires, not five, six, seven laps into the thing."

Told that Busch likely had a flat tire that caused his spin, Craven said, "That would explain it."

But to blame the plates would be a mistake, Park said.

"Half the race isn't even over, and guys are running like it's the last lap," Park said. "Restrictor plates don't cause crashes. Race car drivers do."

Or maybe flat tires.